Type wheel assembly in check writing machines



Sept. 16, 1958 H. E. HUTZELMAN 2,851,946

TYPE WHEEL ASSEMBLY IN CHECK WRITING MACHINES Filed Feb. 11, 1955 4Sheets-Sheet 1 3nventor H OW ARD E. HUT ZELMAN attorney P 1958 H. E.HUTZELMAN 2,851,946

TYPE WHEEL ASSEMBLY IN CHECK WRITING MACHINES Filed Feb. 11, 1955 '4Sheets-Sheet 2 r p H 3nventor BB HOWA RD E, Hu'rzELMA attorney Sept. 16,1958 H. E. HUTZELMAN 2,851,946

TYPE WHEEL ASSEMBLY IN CHECK WRITING MACHINES 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledFeb. 11, 1955 FIG.7

INVENTOR. H OWAR o E. H UTZELMAN United States Patent Cfiice TYPE WHEELASSEMBLY IN CHECK WRITIN G MACHINES Howard E. Hutzelrnan, Corry, Pa.,assignor to Applied Research Corporation, Erie, Pa., a corporation ofPennsylvania Application February 11, 1955, Serial No. 487,571

7 Claims. (Cl. 10195) This invention relates to printing devices andmore particularly to devices for printing checks drawn on banks whereinthe bank is ordered to pay to the person whose name appears on thecheck, who is the payee, the amount of money indicated on the check.

Check protecting and printing devices made according to prior designshave ordinarily been complicated, heavy, and expensive to construct.They have involved the use of heavy printing members and devices. Theoffset printing arrangement in the present invention, coupled with thespecial indelible ink in the rubber stamps as disclosed in Patent No.2,318,465 and special eraser proof check papers which are in common useat present, results in a printed amount line for checks which iscompletely safe from the increasing of an amount and completely safefrom the adding of any other numerals by any means which would result inan increased amount shown on a check. Protection for checks such asthese has been accomplished with existing machines which per forate thecheck paper when the amount is printed. These machines are costly,complex, bulky, and require maintenance by factory trained mechanics.This invention affords the same degree of check protection, clearness ofprint to afford faster check handling, and less errors than with handwritten checks. This unit is a small compact device which may beproduced at a small fraction of the cost of existing machines and willcontribute to making printed alter-proof checks available for home andsmall business use.

It is, accordingly, an object of this invention to provide a checkprotecting device which is simple in construction, economical tomanufacture, and simple and efficient to use.

Another object of this invention is to provide a check printing devicewherein the numerals. impressed thereby on the check paper are notobscured by the machine perforating the paper.

A further object of this invention is to provide a check printing devicewherein the numerals printed by the device are easy to read, therebyeliminating the probability of error, yet the manner in which they areprinted by the device prohibits the possibility of an unauthorizedperson increasing the amount of the check by altering the printednumeral amount on the check and, therefore, the amount cannot beincreased in value.

A further object of the invention is to provide a check printing machinewhich may be easily and expeditiously operated by inexperienced personsand which is light in weight for convenience in handling.

Another object of the invention is to provide a check protecting deviceutilizing an ink retaining rubber stamp type printing indicia and astructure whereby the paper to be printed will be pushed through a slotand against the platen bar, thereby flexing the paper so that the checkpaper to be printed on will make contact on the line to be printed bythe indicia.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved slottedcover shell produced from transparent 2,851,946 Patented Sept. 16, 1958material providing clear indicia windows between slots posing indicatorcharacters in combination with means.

for indexing for each printing position, the movement to be through atleast one hundred eighty degrees of a total angular movement.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved cylindricalcover shell for the indicia wheels. I

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved suspension forindicia wheels and detent pieces in a check printing machine.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improvedprinter platen adjustment to control the printing impression from oneside or the other.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consistsof the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and moreparticularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understoodthat changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minordetails of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificingany of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a check writing machine according to theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom view of the check writing machine;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the machine taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a sectional View of the machine taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a facsimile of a printed amount produced by the unit;

Fig. 6 is an expanded view of part of the printing indicia; and

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view taken on line 77 of Fig. 4 showing thesides of one of the wheels.

Now with more specific reference to the drawings, the check protectingmachine is made up of a base plate 1 to which end brackets 2 and 3 arerigidly attached by' means of screws 3a which extend through bosses 3bin. the base 1 and threadably engage the end brackets 2: and 3,respectively, in threaded holes therein. Indicia wheels 10, 11, 12, 13,14, and 15 are pivotally supported on shaft 35 which is supportedbetween a boss 35a which is integrally attached to the end bracket 3 anda boss 35]) which is integrally attached to the end bracket 2. The boss35b has a tapered bore 35c which terminates in a shoulder 35d againstwhich the end of the shaft 35 abuts and is held in firm engagementtherewith by means of screw 6 which extends through a hole in thebracket 2 and holds the end of the shaft 35 in firm engagement with theshoulder 35d. A similar screw 6a extends through a hole in the endbracket 3 and threadably engages the other end of the shaft 35, drawingthe shaft 35 into firm engagement with the shoulder 352. The inside endsof the bosses 35a and 35b firmly support the indicia wheels 10 to 15therebetween.

The indicia Wheels 10 to 15 are fitted with operating handles 5a, 5b,5c, 5d, 52, and 5 respectively, which are attached to each respectivewheel by means of rivets 22. Bands of porous rubber indicia carryingstamps are attached to a segment of the periphery of the wheels 10 to 15by cement or other suitable means. The porous rubber is a type of rubberwell known to those skilled in the art and is adapted to hold a supplyof printing ink within the cellular structure of the rubber material.

An indicia wheel 16 is attached to the wheel 13 by means of the rubberindicia member 24. It may also be pinned thereto by means of a rivetextending through the two wheels 16 and 13. The indicia member 24 has awidth three times the width of the other indicia members 23 and themember 24 carries the indicia in transverse relation which is shown inFig. 6. In the first position, the indicia member 24 prints threeasterisks, that is, when an amount of less than a dollar is to beprinted and it is not desired to print a zero before the amount ofcents. If it is desired to print a zero before the amount of cents, thewheel 16 is moved to the second position where the indicia prints DOLS.The wheel16 prints the letters DOLS to all positions except the firstposition. In the first position, it prints three asterisks and in thesecond 0 DOLS. The third position prints 1 DOLS, etc. Wheel 16 doesnthave an operating handle but is fastened to indicia wheel 13 asexplained above and is thereby positioned by the operation of theindicia wheel 13.

The lower half of each indicia wheel has a segment cut out as shown at17a in Fig. 4 so that the fixed indexing bar 17 may extend through theopenings 17a in all seven of the indicia wheels 15} to 15 and allow theindicia wheels to be operated through approximately one hundred eightydegrees. The indexing bar 17 is made of two halves which lie togetheralong slot 18 and the two edges of the bar 17 are inserted in theopening 17b and are held together by the edges thereof. The indexing bar17 is inserted into the opening 17b in the bossed portion 35a andextends across through the opening in the indicia wheels to and mayextend into an opening-at 35g in the bossed portion 35a whereby bothends may be supported.

The top cylindrical surfaces of each indicia wheel 10 to 15 remote fromthe porous rubber stamp band 23 thereon carry positive indicatorcharacters or indicia at 23a which are visible through windows 23b inthe top of the cylindrical cover member 4. These windows 23b may beformed in a number of ways, one being constructing the cylindricalmember 4 of transparent material and painting all but the areas wherethe windows are to be exposed. The cylindrical cover member 4 extendsinto the groove 33a in the bracket member 3 and the groove 2a in thebracket member 2 and is held in firm engagement therewith by the screws6 and 6a which hold the bracket members 2 and 3 together. Thecylindrical cover member 4 is, in effect, a sheet of material but in theform of a cylinder and its ends terminate in spaced relation to form aslot 4a in the bottom thereof through which the check paper 41' to beprinted is forced during the printing operation as will be explainedlater. Bands 23 each have thereon from one end to the other 0, andnumbers 1 to 9. When an indicia member on band 23 is disposed as shownfor the indicia member 23:! in Fig. 4 and the printing lever isactuated, the indicia which appears at the windows 23b which correspondto the indicia 23 facing the groove 4a will print the indicia on thecheck paper 4j through groove 4a.

The inner peripheral cylindrical surface of the cut out portion on eachwheel 10 to 15 is provided with locating grooves Sac which co-act withdetent balls 21 and one of each of the grooves 5ac is directly oppositeone of the indicia. bearing rubber bands 23 whereby when each indicatorwheel is moved to its proper position, the detent hall 2.1 will be urgedby the spring which is confined in a blind hole at the top 5d in the bar17 and extends through and is held in the bar 17 by the ball 21 at thebottom. The end of the hole adjacent the ball 21 is of reduced size,preventing the ball 21 from being forced out of the indexing member whenthe indexing bar 17 is removed from the device. Therefore, the ball 21will be urged into engagement with the groove Sac to hold the wheel inthe desired position.

The bossed portion 35a carries the porous rubber block 22a and bossedportion 35b carries porous rubber block 25 which print a predeterminedindicia on the check to be printed. The blocks 22a and 25 are fixed inposition and, in the example shown, will print the word THE SUM OFbefore the amount being printed and GT5 after the amount being printed.

The cylindrical case 4 has slots 4h through which handles 5 protrude inorder for the actuating handles to be accessible to move the wheels tothe desired position. The cylindrical cover 4 is also provided with theclear windows 23b which are formed by masking the window area from paintwhich is applied to the transparent plastic cylinder as explained aboveto indicate the amount to be imprinted on the check blank 4i so that theindicator characters 4 corresponding to the porous rubber typecharacters register with slot 4a in the position in which the respectivewheel is set. Therefore, the indicia wheels can be in the printedposition to bring any desired indicia to the operating position inalignment with the slot 4a. Further, the detent ball 21 will engage adepression on the inner side surface 21a of the indicia wheels topositively locate the indicia members at the desired position.

Referring now to Fig. 5, the specimen characters on the facsimile shownindicate such characters as would be printed from the rubber stampsshown in the drawings designated by the same index members as theircorresponding rubber stamp members shown in Fig. 4; however, the letterA is affixed thereto. Blocks 22a and 25 on bossed extensions 35a and 35bof end members 3 and 2, respectively, will thereby print blocks 22A and25A each time the check printing device is actuated. The particularindicia which will be impressed on the check is determined by themanually set position of the handles 5a through 5 This arrangement isprovided so that the words DOLS will be printed with every position ofthe indicia wheel 13 except when the indicia wheel 13 is'positioned toprint an asterisk. This will be done when it is desired for the deviceto print an amount less than one dollar. Each of the indicia wheels 10to 13 will be positioned to print an asterisk and, inthis position,indicia wheel 16 and corresponding rubber stamp band 24 will bepositioned to print two more asterisks instead of the word DOLS. Indiciawheels 14 and 15may be positioned to correspond with the desired CTSamount to be printed. An example of this printing is shown in Fig. 6.

Base plate 1 is provided with an operating bar assembly by means ofwhich each check form 4 inserted into the device may be forced upwardlyto bring it into contact with the porous stamp bands and blocks whichwill thereby impart the desired printing upon the check 4 This assemblyconsists of the operating bar 26 pivotally mounted on pin 27 having thehand engaging member 7 integrally attached thereto. The opposite end ofthe bar 26 carries the platen 19. The ends of the pin 27 are supportedon lugs 31 which are integrally attached to the base plate 1. A fiatspring 28 is inserted in a slot 29 between the lugs 29a and 29b in theoperating bar 26, thereby holding the spring 28 in position, and one endof the spring 28 engages a lug 29c integrally attached to the undersideof the base 1.

In order to insure the printed indicia falling on the desired line onthe check 4 a locating device is provided. Two spaced stop members 9 areattached to a slide 30 and the stops 9 extend upwardly through a slot inthe base 1 and have a threaded opening therein which receives the screw8. The screw 8 has a flat shoulder 8a thereon which is adapted to engagethe top of the base 1 at either side of the slot so that when the screw8 is loosened, the stops 9 can he slid toward or away from thecylindrical member 4. Therefore, a check 41' inserted under thecylindrical member 4 can be stopped at a predetermined point so as tohave the indicia impressed on the proper place on the check 4 Fasteningscrews 37 are threadably attached to platen member 19 and extendupwardly therethrough and are adapted to engage the bottom of the base 1to limit the upward movement of the platen 19. This adjustment can bemade if it is desirable in order to insure equal pressure on all partsof the platen 19.

In order to insure that a neat print of only the rubber stamp charactersis impressed on the check 4 without a portion of the adjacent stampblockmarking the check form, the opening in the cylindrical member 4 ismade of sufiicient width to only permit the check 4i to be flexed inconvex relation through the opening by the action of the platen 19. Thisrestriction of the opening width also serves a secondary functionbecause the resiliency of the material of which the check 4 is madecauses the check to eject itself from the rubber stamps and down intoengagement with the platen 19 when the platen 19 is lowered by releaseof the manual pressure on the handle 7 and the action of thespring 28has forced the platen 19 downward.

The ink supply in the porous rubber stamp bands is sufiicient forhundreds of printed impressions and will not dry out, even if not usedfor several years, when the proper ink is used in combination with therubber material. The suitable type of ink is familiar to those skilledin the art and the type used with the porous rubber disclosed in thesaid patent. When the ink supply is nearly exhausted, the stamp bandsmay be reinked merely by brushing the ink on the rubber surface. Inorder to make these surfaces easily accessible to the user, the entireoperating bar or printing platen 19 is removable.

Pivot pin 27 is held in place in grooves in the bottom of the lugs 31 bythe heads of cap screws 38 which extend up into the base 1 and, whenremoved, allow the pin 27 to be lifted out of the slot in which itrests. Removal of the two screws 38 permits removal of the operating barassembly consisting of the parts 7, 26, 19, 29, 37, 27, and 28. Reinkingmay now be accomplished through the slot 1a in the base 1.

In order to disassemble the check printing device, the operator removesthe right hand screw 3a and the screw 6. This will allow the bracket 2to swing outwardly around locating pin 18a. When the bracket member 2swings outward, cylindrical cover member 4 comes out of slot 2a. Thencover 4 can be pulled from slot 2a and expanded by spreading it at slot4a and thereby lifting it up off handles 5a to 5'1 and indicia wheels to15. The members 10 to can then be easily removed by sliding themsideways off shaft 35.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferredpractical forms but the structure shown is capable of modificationwithin a range of equivalents without departing from the invention whichis to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with theappended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A check printing machine comprising a base, printing means comprisingink containing indicia members supported on said base, a shaft, said inkcontaining indicia members being supported on said base by means of saidshaft and rotatable about said shaft, two spaced side members, saidshaft being disposed between said side members and attached thereto andsupported thereby, locating pins, said locating pins being attached tosaid base and extending upwardly therefrom into said side members, andmeans to lock said side members to said base with said shaft disposedtherebetween, said side members being swingable outwardly about saidlocating pins to release said shaft whereby said printing means may beremoved.

2. The machine recited in claim 1 wherein said side members each have acircular groove therein in the side thereof facing the other side memberand generally concentric with said shaft and a sheet of material formedinto cylindrical shape forming a cover for said printing means havingthe cylindrical ends thereof disposed in said grooves whereby said sheetis supported.

3. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein said cover has axially spaced,circumferentially extending slots therein and actuating handles, saidactuating handles being attached to said printing means and extendingthrough said slots whereby said handles may be engaged by the fingers ofan operator to set said printing means.

4. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein said printing means comprisesspaced wheels having said indicia members thereon and said covercomprises resilient material split longitudinally along one side, saidcover being adapted to be grasped by the one hand of an operatoradjacent each side of said split and bent toward a flat shape, openingup said split to enable said wheels to move v through said split andover said wheels.

5. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein said cover has alongitudinally extending slot down the side thereof adjacent said baseand platen means on said base, said printing means being spaced inwardlyfrom the inner periphery of said cylindrical cover, said platen beingmovable into said slot whereby a paper check blank may be forced intosaid slot into engagement with said printing means, bending said checkagainst the edges of said slot.

6. The machine recited in claim 2 wherein said printing means is inspaced relation to said base and a stop member is attached to said baseto limit the position of a check relative to said printing means, saidstop member being adjustable on said base.

7. A check printing machine comprising a base, printing means comprisingink containing indicia members supported on said base and rotatableabout a shaft, said shaft supported solely on two side members anddisposed therebetween, each said side member being attached to said baseby means of locating pins extending into said side members and attachedto said base upwardly therefrom, and means to lock said side members tosaid base, said side members being swingable about said locating pins torelease said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS611,926 Murray Oct. 4, 1898 923,085 Smith May 25, 1909 1,131,602 DoremusMar. 9, 1915 1,183,605 Todd May 16, 1916 1,307,532 Angell June 24, 19191,329,606 Johanson Feb. 3, 1920 1,530,871 Welter Mar. 24, 1925 1,868,997Speicher July 26, 1932 2,092,852 Payne Sept. 14, 1937 2,318,465 ChollarMay 4, 1943 2,329,646 Payne Sept. 14, 1943 2,339,188 Payne Ian. 11, 19442,344,609 Hanson Mar. 21, 1944

